Spirit
of the age
How gin became a tonic
for Scotlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s distillers

5

The year
of gin

6

Precision whisky
engineering

2

ruralscot

COMMENT

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The SWA has signalled there will be plenty of demand for Scotch across the
world in the coming years

Raising a dram to
a bright future
Recent figures show
export volumes are up
for Scotland’s national
drink
By Rosemary Gallagher
The festive season is fast approaching
and many will be looking forward to a
dram or two of their favourite Scotch
Whisky to celebrate Christmas and
mark the start of a new year.
While there is already a vast array
of Scotch available, the range is set
to increase in light of the number of
new distilleries recently opened, being
built or at planning stage. There are
currently 118 Scotch Whisky distilleries
licensed to operate, and about 30 to
40 new ones planned. These are being
built across Scotland, from the borders
to Glasgow and Edinburgh to areas
clearly associated with whisky distilling, such as Islay and Speyside.
It’s not surprising that there is such
a level of interest in Scotch Whisky.
It’s Scotland’s national drink and is an
iconic product recognised across the
globe. Exports of Scotch are worth
around £4 billion annually and it is
enjoyed in about 200 markets, from
the biggest by value, the USA, to South
America, Asia and Europe.
Scotch Whisky operates in a
competitive market place and the
industry is well aware it has to innovate
to stay ahead. And new entrants to
the production of Scotch also have to
generate an income while they are

waiting at least three years for their
‘new make’ spirit to become Scotch
Whisky. The law states that Scotch has
to be matured for at least three years
in oak casks in Scotland. And by the
time Scotch is sold it has often been
aged for several more years. So many
producers are generating money by
capitalising on the current popularity
of gin, by making that while waiting
for their Scotch to mature.
And it looks like there will be plenty
of demand for Scotch across the world
in coming years. The most recent
export figures show the volume of
Scotch exported was up by just over
3 per cent in the first half of this year
to the equivalent of 533 million 70 cl
bottles, compared to the same period
in 2015. While the value of shipments
was down slightly by just 1% over the
same period to £1.7 billion, this drop
was much smaller than the decline
in value of almost 3% in the first six
months of last year.
Despite the uncertainty presented
by Brexit there are reasons to be optimistic. Since the UK voted to leave the
EU in June, we’ve been talking to our
members, governments and analysing
what this development means for the
industry. We can be confident certain
things won’t change – Scotch will
continue to enjoy a 0% tariff in the EU
because of World Trade Oganisation
rules.
So, let’s raise a dram to a bright
future.
Rosemary Gallagher, Scotch Whisky
Association head of communications

POLICY

14 December 2016

ruralscot

3

Growing at twice the rate of the UK’s food
and drink sector, there’s a reason why
Scotland’s producers are in good heart
But education is the next
thing to put on the table,
according to the leading
trade body
By Kevin O’Sullivan
Scotland’s food and drink industry is in
rude health. The sector is growing at
twice the rate of the rest of the UK, and
between 2008 and 2014 manufacturing turnover rose by 43%, compared
to an average of just 21% across the
UK as a whole. Whilst there are many
factors behind that success, not least
the creation of an umbrella organisation which focuses all its energy and
drive into creating a ‘brand story’ for
Scotland, James Withers, CEO of
Scotland of Food & Drink, believes it’s
the increasing collaboration between
the supply chain that has been the
“game-changer”.
In fact, we start by discussing the
over-used phrase of ‘co-opetition’,
which was coined in Ireland but has
been perhaps best expressed by very
bright academics at Harvard Business
School, who recognised that a bit of
cooperation among competitors can
actually be a good thing.
“It’s an interesting concept,” says
Withers, who started his career with
the National Farmers’ Union of Scotland, an organisation that was instrumental in the founding of the organisation he now works for. “The theory
that came out of Harvard Business
School was based on evidence that the
most successful businesses in history
weren’t those that learned how to drive
the competition out of town but had
learned how to work with them, hence
the term ‘co-opetition’ was born.”
“And my view is that collaboration
and the spirit of ‘co-opetition’ is the
game-changer for Scotland and that’s
what’s making a huge amount of difference.”
Scotland of Food and Drink is just
nine years old but the principle of
creating it was the bringing together

“My view is that
collaboration and
the spirit of ‘coopetition’ is the
game-changer for
Scotland and that’s
what’s making a
huge amount of
difference”

James Withers believes
provenance and education
can help drive Scotland’s
food and drink sector to even
greater heights

of previously disparate sectors.
Fishermen suddenly started to have
conversations with farmers, bakeries
and dairies opened up lines of communication, with the common goal of
growing the value of Scottish food and
drink, and its reputation overseas.
“ What we’ve been trying to do is
build a national brand for Scotland and
I think there are companies who - and
a recent Bank of Scotland survey shows
this - that the majority of companies
are planning to use that Scottish brand
and Scottish provenance for sales
growth purposes,” adds Withers.
The provenance agenda is one
that seems to be of most growing interest to the big supermarkets, too. Many
are now keen to stamp good, strong
Scottish brands on their products. It is
a trend that is not likely to go away and
represents a broader cultural shift as
people reconnect with produce, as they
may have done two or three generations ago when there was a real and
visceral relationship with the land.
Withers reflects on his own personal
experience of having gone through 13
years of school with just two lessons
in home economics. Comparing that
to what his own children learn now at
primary school - where they have more
food-related education in two weeks
than he had in his entire school career
- he believes in 10 to 15 years’ time that
cultural shift will become even more
deeply ingrained.
His real concern, though, is that
short-term political considerations
over how best to combat Scotland’s
growing obesity crisis, and also
relationship with alcohol (think policy
responses such as the sugar tax and
minimum unit pricing) may not allow
time for those educational advances to
bear fruit in public health terms.
“The problem is political cycles
are intolerant of that level of pay-off.
Don’t get me wrong, I think the food
and drink industry absolutely has a
responsibility to help tackle Scotland’s
woeful dietary record,” he says. “It’s
simply not good enough. Our levels of
type II diabetes, our levels of obesity
are shocking, but it is an incredibly
complex problem. My view is that
whilst it is probably the instinct of
government to go for quite blunt policy
tools like taxation, I don’t think those
simple tools will do anything other
than hurt those that probably could
least afford it, so it is going to be about
food education, which I think is totally
transformed.”
I ask if he’s in favour of any of the
current policy ideas advanced by an
increasingly noisy public health lobby.
“The reality is that some of
Scotland’s most famous products
you would not describe as inherently healthy products, whether it’s
shortbread or whisky or Irn Bru,
but my view is that they provide a
huge amount of economic benefit to
Scotland, employ thousands of people
and absolutely have a place in the food

and drink world; but we need to keep
educating around balanced diet.
“I personally don’t believe in good
food and bad food. I believe there are
bad diets but I think everything in
moderation so if you want to enjoy a
can of coke, you crack on.”
In any event, Withers believes, as
with provenance, it’s the consumers
themselves who will lead the demand
for healthier products and manufacturers and retailers will respond
accordingly.
“If you look at what has driven a lot
of the reformulation of product, the
fact that if you go into most supermar-

kets an awful lot of health messaging
out there is actually consumer-driven,”
he adds. “I personally think we need to
give the public more credit than they’re
often given, and not that they’re going
to be swayed into dramatic dietary
choices by the power of advertising.”
Talking of advertising, with the
Christmas season upon us, I ask how
important the recently-launched
government-backed £3m Connect
Local campaign (an initiative aimed at
helping smaller producers access retail
markets) will be at capturing the imaginations of a consumer increasingly
interested in better quality produce.
“It’s only just getting going so it’s

early days but the forerunner to it
was Think Local, which did a huge
amount of work for the development of
companies which are quite early on in
their journeys.
He says: “One thing we’ve seen over
the years - and we do a lot of research
into consumer attitudes - is that there
is a lot more interest from people in
terms of where their products are
coming from and if they want to really
invest in a good meal, particularly in a
big event like Christmas, they are really
interested in the broader story behind
the products they’re getting. And that
in some ways drives a really positive
end to the year for businesses.”

4

ruralscot

produce

14 December 2016

Welcome to the ‘ginaissance’ – where
fruity blends of botanicals promise to
take you on a journey of discovery
Christmas Edinburgh
Gin promises to add a
splash of ancient
incense and spice
When the ‘Book of History According
to Gin’ is written, 2016 will be the year
the ‘ginaissance’ finally got into full
swing.
In fact, the global thirst for gin
appears almost unquenchable. Today,
more than three quarters of exported
gin is now produced in the UK; a mere
70% of this hails from Scottish stills.
One of the most most-coveted spirits
leading the trend is Scotland’s own
Edinburgh Gin.
Producing small batch gins in their
distilleries in the heart of the country’s
cosmopolitan capital, Edinburgh Gin
thrives on variety and the creation
of gins for every taste and occasion;
Christmas being no exception.
Much to the delight of gin fanatics,
this festive season creates boundless
reasons to enjoy Edinburgh Christmas
Gin; alluringly festive with a unique
blend of botanicals.
With warming frankincense, sweet
myrrh, and lingering spice from cinnamon and nutmeg, Christmas Edinburgh Gin takes its inspiration from
the ancient incense and spice routes.

Try it at apres-hour in a spiced winter
Negroni.
For lovers of understated elegance,
try the classic Edinburgh Gin. This is a
juniper-forward London Dry gin, given
a distinctive Scottish identity with a
recipe including lavender, pine buds,
mulberries and milk thistle seed. It’s
as crisp as a winter’s morning, with a
distinctively smooth finish; the perfect
gin for those fireside G&Ts.
Of course, no festive season is complete without its cocktails. Edinburgh
Gin’s family of exquisite gin liqueurs,
Raspberry, Elderflower and Rhubarb
& Ginger, are the perfect ingredient
for the cocktail curious or those with a
seasonal sweet tooth.
Whether added to a glass of prosecco
or mixed into something a little more
adventurous like a DIY Bramble, consider that all important welcome drink
sorted.
And as if in time for Christmas itself, a
opulent new limited edition liqueur has
just been released. With its juicy stone
fruits and exotic Madagascan vanilla,
Plum & Vanilla delivers an artful dash of
elegance your drinks, not to mention the
spirit of Christmas to your glass.
A plum and vanilla infusion has just
been launched by Edinburgh Gin for
the Christmas trading period

- WISH LIST £35

£40

£18.50

CHRISTMAS EDINBURGH GIN

EDINBURGH GIN GLASS SET

FRUIT LIQUEURS

Distilled with frankincense
& myrrh, this is the spirit of
Edinburgh’s Christmas. Bottled.

Edinburgh Gin with two etched
glasses. The perfect gift for those
who enjoy a gin or two.

Deliciously versatile created with
fresh ingredients, these gin liqueurs
are perfect for the party season.

BUY ONLINE AT WWW.EDINBURGHGINDISTILLERY.CO.UK/SHOP

PRODUCE

14 December 2016

ruralscot

5

A tonic for the drink trade
Scottish gin has proved
so popular that distillers
believe it needs the same
status as Scotch whisky

Tony Reeman-Clark is supportive of an
accreditation scheme to afford better
protection for Scottish gin distillers

By Kevin O’Sullivan
If you cast your mind back just a few
years you’d be hard pressed to find
anyone who had a good word to say
about gin. The once maligned spirit
has spent the best part of three centuries trying to shake off the ‘mother’s
ruin’ tag, such was its propensity to
inflict damage on the poor and suffering of Hogarth’s London.
Much has changed since the stark
and sobering images of Gin Lane, and
in recent years the juniper-based tipple
has even found itself being warmly
embraced by an entirely new demographic: the hipster cadre has been
as keen as any to get on board with
pure, cold-distilled botanicals, flushed
with an increasingly diverse mix of
flavours, from hand-foraged tree barks
to, believe it or not, a set of retired golf
clubs.
This enthusiasm has led to some,
perhaps excitedly, labelling the current
trend a ‘ginaissance’. Whatever your
stance, there’s no arguing with the
facts and gin sales are through the
roof. The Wine & Spirits Trade Association reported this month that gin
had broken the £1bn sales mark in the
on-and-off trade for the first time ever
in in the UK in 2016, six months ahead
of forecasts. Some 283,000 ‘hectolitres’, the equivalent of 40 million
bottles, were sold in the last 12 months,
which works out as a commendable
1.12bn gin and tonics.
When I catch up with Tony
Reeman-Clark, the founder and outgoing chairman of the Scottish Craft
Distillers’ Association, he understandably wants to bathe in the reflected
glory of a spirit that has transformed
the fortunes of an entire industry.
“Four years ago somebody would
have said the standard customer for
gin would be a woman aged 35 to 45,
but now the whole profile has changed,
not just for gin but whisky as well,” he
says.
“It’s now for anybody over 18, the
drinking age. If you went to somebody’s house five years ago and asked
for a gin and tonic and they’d come out
of the kitchen a few minutes later with
something sparkling in a glass with a
slice of lemon in it. Now it’s a journey,
a voyage.”
Reeman-Clark is a former IT executive who founded his own Strathearn
Distillery, at Methven near Perth,
three years ago. With a licence to distil
‘anything we want to’, he insists he only
started producing gin as a ‘cash crop’
whilst waiting for his whisky to mature.
However, the brand established itself
quickly in the market and went on
to win a top craft spirit award last
year. And the whisky, which recently
matured as a three-year-old (the legal
minimum to be called Scotch Whisky),
has just seen its inaugural hundred
bottles auctioned off, with the first
bottle going for the princely sum of
£4,150.

“As far as I know, and I’ve no means
to check it, it is the most expensive first
bottle out of a distillery,” says ReemanClark.
“After putting it up for auction for 12
weeks, from our birthday until the first
whisky was ready, I thought towards
the end I’d be phoning up family and
friends and saying, ‘Excuse me, can
you put in a bid?’
“But we had a bid on every single
bottle within 10 hours of the auction
starting. That to me proves how important Scottish provenance is. And it’s the
quality of our gin, because that’s the
only product the buyers could taste,
which has resulted in such a phenomenal sale of our whisky.”
The total sale amassed £39,700,
and the bottles sold were of the 50cl
size, not the typical 70cl. The average
price, therefore, was £315 per bottle.
“I still can’t believe it. I was expecting, I thought, it would be absolutely
amazing if I got £1,000 for the first
bottle, or up to £100 for an average
bottle. But to get up to £300 was absolutely incredible - the word is probably
‘stupid’,” adds Reeman-Clark.
Buyers are no fools, though. If you
can produce a good spirit (the gin),
and put it in good casks, it becomes
very difficult to produce bad whisky.
According to Reeman-Clark the buyer
who paid such an eye-watering sum

“If you went to
somebody’s house
five years ago and
asked for a gin and
tonic they’d come
out of the kitchen a
few minutes later
with something
sparkling in a glass
with a slice of
lemon in it”

for a whisky that has never been tasted
was a world-renowned Italian collector
with very deep pockets.
The SCDA is itself a relative newcomer as an association. Formed in
2013, it has around 40 members, and
Reeman-Clark has just recently stepped
down as its chairman, to allow someone
else to take up the mantle. He was
unsure if an association for small-scale
distillers would even work when it was
conceived, but was pleasantly surprised
by the number of people who turned up
to its first meeting, which is indicative,
he says, of a market keen to replicate
the success of the craft brewers.
He believes the overarching
consumer trend has become one of
‘drinking less, drinking better’ and that
people are now more interested than
they ever have been in the story of the
production process, the science and
the art of making.
Whilst supportive of national
efforts to create a cohesive framework
for Scottish brands, he also is keen
to emphasise that spirits such as gin
should be given some kind of formal
accreditation, a bit like that afforded to
Scotch Whisky.
Given figures from the Wine & Spirits Trade Association have indicated
that 70% of gin is produced in Scotland
(they have also produced a Scottish
Gin Trail map), he argues that there

should be much greater emphasis on
protecting genuine Scottish products
from encroachment by outsiders who
trade off of the country’s reputation for
distillation.
Reeman-Clark, who hails from
Newcastle and considers himself an
‘honorary Scot’, explains: “The biggest
challenge to Scottish distillers, in fact
I would even stretch that point to
Scotland, it’s that Scotland is perceived
to synonymous with quality yet people
are misusing the word ‘Scotland’ or
‘Scottish’ and pretending to be such. I
was in Norway with a distributor who
said, ‘we’ve already got four Scottish
gins, we don’t need any more’, and I
couldn’t politically tell him that none
of them have ever seen the shores of
Scotland.”
He added: “That’s why I brought out
an accreditation scheme to try and do
the same as Scotch, as that is a protected name. But gin is an open door,
anybody can come in and start calling
their product Scottish gin.” He cites the
example of a Spanish gin which uses
the name of a Scottish town on its label
and numerous others who use ‘clever
marketing’ to give the impression of
being Scottish.
For Reeman-Clark the answer is
simple. If the provenance story is
to ring true, the transparency must
extend to more than the liquid in the
glass.

6

ruralscot

Produce

14 December 2016

Precision whisky
engineering
– with its own
railway stop

Tamdhu’s two core expressions

are presented in a unique tear-shaped,
hand-blown crystal decanter, inspired
by the Victorian era. With standout
shelf appeal and distinctive flavour
combinations, each of the expressions,
in their own right, make the perfect
base for a whisky cocktail.
The classic 10 Year Old is the

CANDHUSPIRIT.COM

Born on the banks of the River Spey in
1897, and enthused by the optimism of
the Victorian era, Tamdhu Distillery’s
founders had one single aim: to build
the most remarkable distillery of its
time which would produce the world’s
finest single malt. An aim and vision
that is still held to this day.
During construction, Tamdhu’s
founders enlisted the expertise of
Charles C Doig Esq - the pre-eminent
distillery architect and engineer of the
day. What Doig designed and built was
nothing less than the most pioneering
distillery of the age. A water wheel
positioned beneath the floor for optimum performance, kilns redesigned to
reduce heat loss and waste extracted
by Archimedean Screw, direct to the
distillery’s own railway station. Few
names other than Tamdhu so embody
the ‘Can-Dhu-Spirit’ of our grand
Industrial Age.

The unwavering quality of Tamdhu is defined by the hint of peat in
its malted barley and the fact that
its water is drawn from the Tamdhu
spring. However, what makes it truly
unique is that every drop of this exceptional malt is matured exclusively in
the very best European and American
sherry oak casks, many of which are
first-fill: the rarest in the industry.
Sherry casks are essential for the
flavour and colour of Tamdhu, so
much so that the distillery team make
an annual ‘pilgrimage’ to Jerez, Spain
to hand-select the casks which will
one day help to make Tamdhu. Those
in use today are of the same type
insisted upon when the distillery was
established, ensuring every drop is as
magnificent as the one before.

A railway runs through it. The
Victorian Tamdhu Distillery still
embodies the enterprising spirit of its
founders
signature malt from Tamdhu, with a
wondrous natural colour and awardwinning quality. With a warmth of
toffee, bursting with fruit and spice,
and an aroma of sugared almonds
and vanilla, this timeless expression
makes for the perfect cocktail base for
a classic Whisky Manhattan cocktail.
The deep sherry flavour of the 10 Year
Old is complemented by the sweet
vermouth and the wondrous natural

REDISCOVER TAMDHU AT

The pioneering Tamdhu
Distillery still bears
the marks of a bygone
industrial age

colour of Tamdhu remains intact.
For the devoted malt lover, Tamdhu
Batch Strength perfectly captures
the complex richness and intensity of
sherry cask-matured whisky. It took
home a Double Gold Medal at the 2016
San Francisco World Spirits Competition and was also named Speyside
Single Malt of the Year at the 22nd
Annual Whisky Advocate Awards in
December 2015.
A follow-up – Tamdhu Batch
Strength II - has just been unveiled and
is already proving a hit. Bottled unchillfiltered at natural colour and high
strength, the richness of the malt is

rounded with spice and dried fruit with
lighter fruits coming to the fore including apricot, orange and crème brûlée.
On the finish, the richness matures
into biscuit, malt and marmalade with
a lingering fruitiness. The sweetness
of a Whisky Sour cocktail perfectly
contrasts with the intense flavour of
the Batch Strength expression.
Tamdhu is available in a range of
high-end retailers including Waitrose,
Booths and Oddbins.
For exclusive cocktail videos and more
from Tamdhu see the dedicated website:
www.tamdhu.com

A dram with real Christmas spirit
How Glengoyne is
helping to revive the
fortunes of the iconic
Mackintosh Building
It has often been described as Scotland’s most picturesque distillery, and
now Glengoyne has given inspiration
to one of Scotland’s best loved artists.
Located beside a waterfall, which
eventually meanders its way to the
stunning shores of the famous Loch
Lomond, Glengoyne now sits alone in
an area which, more than two centuries ago, was home to eight illicit distilleries.
The name Glengoyne is derived
from the Gaelic ‘Glen Guin’, meaning
‘Glen of the Wild Geese’, which nestles
into the foot of the volcanic plug that is
Dumgoyne Hill.
It’s a landscape perfectly suited to
the distinctive painting style of John
Lowrie Morrison – Jolomo – with
whom Glengoyne has recently collaborated to create the first of four special
edition whisky tins, taken from an
original painting, “Autumn Moon Over
Glengoyne”.
The Jolomo Limited Edition Glengoyne 10 Year Old Highland Single
Malt Scotch Whisky is for sale in aid of
the Glasgow School of Art Mackintosh
Appeal, which was set up after a tragic
fire damaged the art school in May
2014. For each bottle sold, Glengoyne
will make a contribution to the appeal
and help revive the iconic Mackintosh
Building.
With flavours of fresh green apples,
toffee and a hint of nuttiness, it’s a

Often described as the ‘most
picturesque distillery’, Glengoyne
is helping one of the most iconic
buildings in Scotland, ‘the Mack’, on its
road to recovery
whisky that makes the perfect Christmas gift for lovers of fine malts and
fine art alike.
In addition to the Glengoyne 10 Year
Old, there are six more distinct expressions of Glengoyne to be savoured,
from a 12 Year Old offering lemon zest,

toffee apples with a hint of coconut, to
a stunning bright amber 25 Year Old
which boasts cinnamon, stewed fruits
and Seville marmalade, and a long
spicy liquorice finish.
All are matured in the finest sherry
and bourbon oak casks, which then
lie sleeping within the cool darkness
of Glengoyne Distillery’s traditional
earth-floored warehouses, where time,
wood, and the slowest distillation process in Scotland work together.
Glengoyne’s new 20cl gift packs,

RARE, EXPENSIVE,
HANDMADE.
AND THAT’S JUST
THE CASKS.

THAT’S THE GLENGOYNE WAY.
glengoyne.com

released just in time for the festive
season, give the whisky aficionado an
opportunity to explore three expressions of the award-winning whisky at
once.
The three pack (£54.99), which
includes 20cl bottles of Glengoyne’s 12,
15 and 18 Year Old malts, will be available via a new listing on the Waitrose
gift website; from the Glengoyne Distillery and online shop; and in specialist
outlets in the UK and beyond.
Meanwhile, the five pack (£109.99),

featuring Glengoyne’s 10, 12, 15, 18 and
21 Year Old malts, will also be available
to purchase from both the Glengoyne
Distillery shop and website – glengoyne.com.
Whichever expression you choose,
Christmas is a time for special tastes
and flavours, and the perfect time to
acquaint yourself with the Glengoyne
Highland Single Malt Whisky Collection.
www.glengoyne.com

8

ruralscot

CAREERS

14 December 2016

On the right
course
The pathway to success
with Scotland’s Rural
College
You may be surprised by the range of
courses on offer at Scotland’s Rural
College (SRUC). Their history may
be in agriculture, but nowadays they
support the whole rural sector – a vital
part of our lifestyle and our economy in
Scotland – and offer courses in subjects
including countryside and environmental management, gamekeeping,
horticulture, forestry, garden design,
business, land-based engineering,
poultry, animal and biological sciences,
animal care and vet nursing!
SRUC’s courses are practical and
vocational, and offer great opportunities for students. It’s no surprise that
95% of SRUC’s Higher Education
graduates are in work or further study
within six months of graduating.
Career opportunities in the landbased industries and renewables are
set to maintain continued growth over
coming years. The Scottish land-based
sector has experienced growth in the
last decade of 10,000-15,000 new
jobs. Independent research commissioned in 2011 forecast that between
now and 2020, 3,000 new jobs will be
created in the sector each year.
At SRUC you are not only able to

study undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses but also a full
range of programmes at all levels
from access courses and vocational
studies through to PhDs. In many
cases you can progress seamlessly
through educational levels and
qualifications. This makes them a
comprehensive provider of landbased and rural education, whatever
your academic starting point. Many
courses offer part-time study opportunities as well as full-time, and they
also deliver some courses by distance
learning.
Take the example of Marcus

Craigie, originally from Orkney, who
embarked on an Environmental
related degree at SRUC. Marcus says:
“I had an interest in the subject
from an early age. Coming from a
place that has many environmental
credentials has definitely influenced
my choice of studies. The course at
SRUC included a broad programme
which is very comprehensive and I
felt it was right for my career. In the
first two years there was an emphasis
on practical work, which I found
very useful so I could apply what I
was learning to real world scenarios.
The 3rd and 4th years are more
theoretical and allowed me to be
more independent with my studies

and carry out my own research.”
SRUC offers study campuses at
Aberdeen, Elmwood (Fife), Edinburgh, Oatridge (Broxburn), Ayr and
Barony (Dumfries), as well as teaching resources, professional training
courses, and additional facilities
across Scotland.

For those wishing to pursue a
life less ordinary, SRUC really does
offer many compelling opportunities to study and progress in a career
you can be truly passionate about.
Further information can be found
on the SRUC web site at www.sruc.
ac.uk/study.

SRUC’s courses are both practical and
vocational with subjects including
gamekeeping, horticulture, forestry
and land-based engineering

A job doesn’t have to be
based in an office!
Study at Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) and become an expert in your field!